We learn as we age

Though we haven’t really focused on reducing our waste for a very long time, we have made many sustainable choices for a few years now, and are heavily invested in our environment. Hence, we both chose studies focused on our environment at Wageningen University, better know as the university of life sciences.

Our initial reason for living a more sustainable and down-to-earth life is actually quite simple; to help preserve the planet and all its natural beauty. In other terms, we want to reduce the negative impact that we have on planet Earth. This is also where our love for travel arises. For most people, travel is probably tightly connected to familiarizing yourself with other cultures (or relaxing from a year of working in an office, in most cases). Though we do like to experience the ways in which other people live, we mainly travel to discover Earth’s most stunning sceneries.

Simplicity

As we developed personally and learned more through talking to other people, we discovered new reasons to stick with a zero waste lifestyle. Living a simpler lifestyle in particular is what drew us closer. The simple idea that there is no need for all that stuff is wat really got to us. They won’t magically give your life meaning. Without immediately realizing, most stuff that we tend to buy contains some form of plastic or other non-recyclable materials, making them harmful to the environment. Yes, that lovely cushion with a cute bird printed on it, that you bought to decorate your sofa because it ‘only costed a few bucks’.

Shifting our attention away from all the stuff that we own has enabled us to feel much happier than ever before. We currently own a lot less than we used to. It allows us to enjoy more of the simple things in life. That’s not to say that we’re opposed to all new technological items. We still share a laptop, an iPad, and a smartphone. The internet is just an amazing platform that we wouldn’t want to live without permanently. We have noticed however, that spending less time on digital devices has caused us to live a more active and fulfilling life.

Just a little side note. We were curious to find out how many Earths we would need if every human being lived like us! We calculated ours by use of the website https://www.footprintcalculator.org. The test said that for our lifestyle, we’d need just 0.8 Earths. This is great! But, to be honest, the questions are a tad general to deliver trustworthy results. They don’t really apply to the way we live, either. It’s just a fun little thing to try out yourself!